Enraged Dems warn Johnson not to condition California wildfire aid [View all]

Source: Axios

11 hours ago


House Democrats are warning Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) that tying federal wildfire relief for California to the debt limit could set a new precedent that would come back to bite Republicans.

Why it matters: Disaster prone red states like Florida and Louisiana — Johnson's home state — could face a similar squeeze from Democrats if they retake the House, lawmakers told Axios.

"This place is like high school, it's tit for tat when one side breaks a norm. The other side is happy to return the favor," said Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), pointing to the removal of members from committees as an example.

If Johnson conditions the aid, Moskowitz said, "California's our largest delegation. You think they're going to forget about that?"

Driving the news: Johnson told reporters Monday that, "I think that there should probably be conditions on that aid. That's my personal view."

"We'll see what the consensus is. I haven't had a chance to socialize that with any of the members over the weekend, because we've all been very busy. But it will be part of the discussion for sure," he said.

It's not clear yet whether the idea has full support among Republicans, with centrist Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) telling Axios "that process will play itself out."

"We want to provide relief to Americans who were impacted by natural disasters of any kind," he said, but California's "disastrous policy decisions … will be part of a discussion."

What they're saying: "I just think it's a really bad precedent, and, yeah, I do think it could have slingshot effects," Rep. Ami Bera (D-Calif.) told Axios in a brief interview at the Capitol.

"Whether it's wildfires in CA, or hurricanes and tornadoes in Louisiana, we should should never condition aid to disaster victims," Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) told Axios, also warning that the move would set a "really dangerous precedent."

House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) said conditioning aid would be "crazy and ridiculous" and would "completely upend Congress."

Read more: https://www.axios.com/2025/01/14/california-wildfires-mike-johnson-debt-ceiling